


Laugh Until THE Laughing Starts

by little_wayward_bird



Series: Overcome [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bat Family, Batfamily Feels, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Gen, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason is a Dork, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Stephanie POV, Stephanie and Jason are BFFs, Torture, so does Stephanie, sorry Jason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-10-29 21:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_wayward_bird/pseuds/little_wayward_bird
Summary: Stephanie was having a good time tonight. She had her best friend, she had a small stuffed dog Jason insisted on naming Sparky, and they were at the state fair playing so many games and eating a lot more junk food than they probably should.It was great, until Jason suddenly turned white as a sheet and whirled around looking terrified and seeming to be on the verge of a panic attack.He said he heard a laugh.





	1. His name is Sparky, Sparky the dog,

“How are you so good at this game?” Jason groaned like the sore loser he was.

Stephanie grinned as she pulled her fifth duck out of the water with the pole at the fishing booth.

“Is that a hint of jealousy I hear?” She smirked slyly at him, unhooking the duck from the line. Jason rolled his eyes, but she could see his smirk.

“No. I would just like to play something I would be good at now if you don’t mind,” Jason retorted playfully.

“Tired of losing?” She replied cheekily, putting the five yellow rubber ducks into her side bag. Jason glared slightly at her and she just chuckled. “What did you have in mind?”

She walked the foot over to him, hooked her arm in his and started them walking again.

“Well, we haven’t done any shooting games yet…” Jason drawled, smirking excitedly.

Now it was Stephanie’s turn to groan. “Come on, you’d crush me at those games.”

“Like you crushed me at fish-a-duck? Please. I want to win something since you dragged me out here,” Jason plead, looking a bit pathetic.

Stephanie couldn’t help but smile at his sad little face. “Fine. Only if you teach me to shoot though.”

Jason rose a brow, “Teach you to shoot a gun?”

She rolled her eyes, “Obviously not a real one. But the plastic one at the booth.”

Jason shrugged, smirking, “Deal. Though it’s basically the same.”

Stephanie smiled, then raised a brow at him, “And I didn’t drag you to this fair. You agreed to come and even drove us. And I only did it because you’ve been extra moody and on edge this week, so I thought it would be fun. Just you and me. We haven’t done any best friend fun things in a couple weeks.”

Jason nodded, smiling softer, “Yeah I guess we haven’t."

Stephanie smiled up at him, “Nope.” He smirked, then he looked ahead of them and got an excited glint in his eye.

“There’s one!” He exclaimed, pulling her towards a booth. It was a shoot the clown with plastic pellets from a plastic gun.

“You would pick the one where you can freely shoot at clowns,” she quipped as they neared it.

Jason sobered just a tad though he tried to hide it with a shrug and an unapologetic smirk, “First one I saw.”

She smiled a bit sadly looking at him, kind of sorry for saying it. They were both victims of a psycho villain torturing them for an extended period of time, and both were suffering from PTSD because of it. Though Jason’s was worse than hers because he had a lot more shit that followed; rising from the dead, the league, the Lazarus pit; than she did, as she actually had a year of recovery time in Africa. Jason’s never had that. She was trying to give him that, helping him the way she’d been helped. It’s how they bonded and became best friends in the first place. Through similar upbringings and similar trauma. They were similar in more ways than that too, like senses of humor, mainly as a mask for their pain, general disregard for rules, and sass, they were both experts at it. She also knew Jason’s boundaries when it came to things like the Joker, just like he knew hers about Black Mask, and she hated to accidentally cross them.

Stephanie caught his eyes, “Sorry.”

He just smiled sincerely, “It’s okay. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to shoot that fucker straight through the head, I just don’t know if I could handle being in the same room as him, at least, not yet. I’m getting there.”

“I know. And hey, it might be therapeutic to shoot at a bunch of fake clowns,” she smirked widely, causing him to chuckle. She grinned.

They walked up to the booth and paid the couple bills to play. Jason started, first with a quick examination of his weapon, then held it up and hit every single one of the clowns right between the eyes that the popped up. After the minute was up, he’d made the high score at the booth and was grinning like an idiot as he picked out his prize. He got a small stuffed brown dog with black and white spots.

He turned and grinned at her. She couldn’t help but grin back, glad to see he really was enjoying himself, though for the past hour he’s complained that he hasn’t which she knew was a lie.

“Your turn Blondie,” Jason smirked smugly.

She raised a brow, “You have to teach me, remember?” She knew the general idea of how to shoot a gun; ya point and pull the trigger, but this way it’ll be more fun. Plus, she was curious about the techniques of how to properly shoot, what better teacher than the Red Hood.

Jason rolled his eyes and put the dog into his shoulder bag.

“Right. Well, pick it up,” he ordered, gesturing to the toy gun. She smiled in excitement and picked it up, facing the clowns. Jason walked up behind her and lifted her right arm, pointed it at the targets.

“It might help to aim using two hands,” he suggested. She brought up her left hand and grabbed the handle, now holding it with both hands. He kept his right arm extended next to hers, pressed against her back and looking over her right shoulder. Anyone else probably would have thought of this as romantic or that they were together. But Stephanie knew her friend had no interests in her like that, and neither did she. He was just teaching.

“Okay, so look down the very top of the barrel, that’s your line of aim. You want that to be just a little above where you actually want to shoot to account for the curve of the bullet, or pellet,” he corrected. “Now on a real gun, there’d be some kick back to be prepared for, but this is plastic so it’s not going anywhere.”

Jason gestured for the person running the game to start, which she did smirking, amused.

“Now, you have to anticipate quickly where they’re going to pop up, and react as quickly but make sure to keep the aim right when you pull the trigger. Okay… go!”

A clown popped up and she turned towards it, Jason guiding her arm and she pulled the trigger quickly, hitting the clown on the head. Jason pulled off then and let Stephanie shoot on her own. She did her best, but she did keep missing, going too high or too low. She hit a few though, but not enough to win anything. When the minute was up, she turned to Jason who was grinning.

“Not bad Blondie,” he complimented, smirking a little. She smiled and retook his arm as they started heading for a new game to play.

“I’m better with batarangs. Thanks for teaching me. Bruce would be upset though, since you taught me like you would a real gun,” she smirked rebelliously while Jason laughed.

“He definitely would. But there’s more to shooting a real gun, but it depends on the gun honestly. But that’s pretty much the basics,” Jason shrugged. Stephanie nodded, smiling.

They were there for a few more hours, playing games, going on the few rides they had, and eating many sugary things that would have Alfred cringing. They won a couple more prizes each, though Jason’s little dog was still the cutest. When she pointed that out, he reached into his bag and pulled it out, holding it out to her and smiling.

“His name is Sparky. And you’re more than welcome to adopt him,” Jason offered, still smiling.

Stephanie smiled widely and took the small pup, “Sparky?”

Jason smirked, shrugging. She knew exactly where he got that name from and she would call the small stuffed dog that, knowing it would make him happy.

“We can have shared custody of him,” Stephine suggested, looking at the critter’s little face and smiling, then wiggling it in front Jason. Jason nodded, smiling widely.

It was around 8 o’clock now, and they were just kind of meandering, talking and laughing about their favorite games and foods. Stephanie was having a lot of fun, more than she’d had in a while; she had her best friend, an awesome fair, and a new dog named Sparky.

They were heading to a ring toss game, when Jason suddenly froze and grew extremely tense, turning white as a sheet. He looked around quickly, searching for something, while Stephanie grew very concerned.

“Jason, what’s wrong?” She asked, trying to get his attention. He started shaking his head, looking terrified. Stephanie immediately noticed his breathing picked up. She knew the early signs of one of his panic attacks and recognized that was definitely what was about to happen. She needed to get him out of the crowd now, as that would only make it worse.

She gently grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the side, he easily followed still looking freaked out. She led them in between two booths and had him sit on the grass, but Jason was already starting to zone out and lose focus on reality, his breathing starting to remind her of her own attacks, when her chest would start aching and she would start shaking, unseeing of what was really around her. She quickly placed all her focus on Jason.

She crouched down in front of him, cupped his face with her hands so he would look at her, or at least his eyes would be aimed at her, and spoke gently.

“Jason, hey, nod if you can hear me.”

Jason didn’t move for a moment and then nodded very slightly, not very visible but she felt it in her hands. She then moved her hands down and gently took his.

“Okay. Can you name 5 things that you see, for me Jay?” She asked softly.

Jason swallowed and tried to take a breath, but it was shaky. He blinked a couple times, trying to ground himself.

He spoke roughly, his throat sounding dry, “Um, I see you. There’s a, um, striped tent behind you.” He turned slightly back towards the crowd. “A cotton candy maker, a kid with a slinky, and um, a- another tent.”

Stephanie nodded, smiling a little as Jason took a deeper breath. “Good. Okay, how about touch? Name 4 things you can touch.”

He nodded once and gripped her hand a little, “You, the grass, the tent behind me, and my bag.”

She nodded again, glad he was responding. “Okay, good. What are 3 things you can hear?”

Jason opened his mouth, but then seemed to lose his breath and suddenly shook violently as if something shocked him. She gripped his hands gently and didn’t say anything for a minute.

“Laughing,” Jason mumbled.

“What?” Stephanie asked, furrowing her brows a little.

“I heard… laughing.”

Stephanie nodded smiling, a little relieved, “Yes. Laughing, there’s lots of that. What else?”

Jason shook his head and looked up at her, seeming more present now, “No. No, I heard _his_ laugh.”

Stephanie paled a little, “What?”

Jason started shaking now, “I heard his laugh. I- I can’t miss it. I’ve been hearing it all week, following me around like a shadow. I never see anything though… I’m going crazy…”

Stephanie shook her head, worried for more than one reason now. “No, you’re not crazy Jason. Your mind playing tricks on you of what’s actually going on around you is normal. Flashbacks seeping through, it’s happened before. It is almost April. And there’s plenty of laughter here, it could have been anyone. Hearing it doesn’t make you crazy, okay?”

Jason nodded shakily, then trembled again. She moved to sit beside him and just hugged him now. He hugged her back tightly, breathing slowly, probably counting his breaths.

After a couple minutes, Jason pulled back, relatively calmer now.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, looking down at his hands.

She simply smiled and grasped his hand. “Of course. Now, I think we’ve had enough social fun today. Why don’t we just go home, watch a movie and have some popcorn and hot chocolate? I'll even put a little something extra in the chocolate if ya want.”

Jason smirked painfully and nodded. She stood up and pulled him with her. Keeping hold of his hand, she led them through the crowds and headed towards the parking lot, neither realizing they had an extra shadow behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be out tonight or tomorrow!  
> Thanks for reading! Comments and thoughts are welcomed and loved!  
> <3


	2. He sometimes likes to run away, when he's afraid,

Stephanie plopped down next to Jason on her couch, draping the blanket over both of them. She grabbed the remote while he reached for the mug of hot chocolate with something extra in it. They were both technically underage, Jason only by a few months, Stephanie by about 3 and some years, but it’s supposed to be a fun night, so she was going to keep it that way.

Jason smirked after taking a sip, then asked, “So, what are we watching?”

Stephanie grinned and turned the tv on, the menu screen of _Deadpool_ popping up. Jason smirked excitedly, nodding. Stephanie pressed play then put the remote down and grabbed the popcorn bowl. She knew this was one of Jay’s favorite movies. She’d had planned on watching it with him tonight anyway, it just worked out more with his attack from earlier. It was a nice long movie too, and she saw Jason relaxing as it went on.

When the movie was over, Stephanie was half asleep leaning on Jason’s shoulder. He nudged her a little causing her to blink sleepily up at him.

He smiled down at her, “Alright Blondie, I think I’m gonna head home now.”

“You sure you don’t want to just spend the night here?” Stephanie asked him, sitting up.

He smirked a bit sadly, “You don’t want me here tonight.”

She tilted her head to look at him, “Nightmares again?”

Jason nodded, “All week, since I started hearing it.”

Stephanie smiled a little in understanding. “Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll call you first thing in the morning, okay?”

“Thanks.”

“And no patrol tonight. I won’t either if you won’t,” Stephanie rose a brow at him.

“Believe me, I’m too tired for patrol tonight,” Jason smiled tiredly.

She nodded, then smiled with an idea and quickly hopped up, went to her bag and pulled out Sparky. Jason stood up, draping the blanket on the couch behind him and walked over.

“You can have custody of Sparky tonight,” Stephanie said, holding the stuffed animal out to him.

Jason smiled and took the dog. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to walk him, feed him, and rub his belly, so don’t worry.”

Stephanie smirked, “Good, otherwise I’d file for divorce.”

“Nah you love me too much to do that,” Jason retorted, smirking widely.

Stephanie smiled and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his middle in a hug. He hugged her back, placing his chin on her head. Jason kissed the top of her head and stepped back a moment later, then grabbed his shoulder bag, placing Sparky in it.

“I’ll see ya tomorrow Steph.” He smiled down to her and she smiled back.

“Goodnight Jay, sleep well.”

He huffed, “I will try.”

Stephanie nodded, smiling a little. Jason smiled tiredly back then headed towards the door.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” She told him, smirking.

Jason grabbed the door handle and turned back, “Thanks, I will.” With one last smile he left. Stephanie sighed sadly, hoping her friend would find some peace tonight. She didn’t get why Jason was hearing the Joker, his death anniversary wasn’t for another month and as far as she, and the bats, were aware, Joker was still in Arkham. Maybe Jason just had a bad day last week and a memory surfaced. It’s happened before. Hopefully it will pass soon.

Stephanie sighed again then went to pick up the snack remains from the living room. She then turned out the lights and went to bed, not going on patrol as she promised Jay she wouldn’t if he didn’t. She quickly tucked herself in and fell asleep quickly.

Stephanie woke up with warm light filling the room from the window. She gently opened her eyes and smiled as the sun greeted her. Slowly rising up, she stretched her back out, raising her arms in the air and yawning. She fell back onto her bed again, then rolled over and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. It was around 9 o’clock. Jay may or may not be awake yet. She dialed him anyway, in case he was, woken early from a nightmare or something.

Jason didn’t answer, so Stephanie happily assumed he was still sleeping. She threw the covers back and rolled her legs off the bed, and steadily stood up, stretching her legs out now. Keeping her phone in hand she left her room and went to her kitchen, flipping the lights on. She put her phone on the counter and got herself some breakfast which simply consisted of Reese’s cereal. She sat at her table and played some music from her phone, keeping the morning relaxed.

Stephanie was half way done with her breakfast when her phone rang. Expecting it to be Jason she just picked it up and answered.

“Morning Jay,” she answered, shoveling another mouthful.

“Um, not Jay,” Barbara said seriously.

“Oh sorry, he didn’t answer when I called like 10 minutes ago, so I assumed. What’s up Barbara?”

Barbara took a deep breath then spoke very seriously, “We haven’t told Jason yet, because we all agreed he’d take it better hearing it from you, but… the Joker escaped Arkham.”

Stephanie practically choked on her cereal, spitting it back into the bowl then quickly standing up.

“What?! Oh my god, okay. When and how?” She asked hurriedly, running to her room to change. Not to go out and look for the clown, but to go tell Jason in person, since he didn’t answer before and so she can keep him calm which is harder to do over the phone. Not impossible, just harder.

“We don’t know. The guards discovered it was a decoy in his cell this morning, just a couple hours ago. There’s no telling right now how long he’s been out,” Barbara answered, the sounds of her typing clear.

Stephanie took a deep breath, “Okay. I’m going to Jason's now.”

“Okay, just be careful. And Batman doesn’t want him out, at all.”

Stephanie nodded, placing the phone between her shoulder and ear to pull on her jeans. “Of course not. He told me just yesterday he still doesn’t think he could handle being in the same room as him.”

“Well, at least he knows and acknowledges his limits,” Barbara noted, sounding relieved.

Stephanie smiled a little, now slipping her feet into her shoes, “We’ve been working on that for months. He’s getting there.”

“Good, I’m glad,” Barbara replied kindly.

Stephanie nodded and had just grabbed her bag and jacket to head out the door when she got a really sick feeling in stomach as she realized something.

“Oh my god,” she said now very scared, then rushed out the door as fast as she could.

“What is it?” Barbara asked, now concerned.

Stephanie didn’t say anything as she ran to her motorcycle, slammed on her helmet, switched the phone call to the com and sped off down the street towards Jason’s apartment.

“Stephanie, _what is wrong_?” Barbara asked, now sounding a lot more concerned.

Stephanie took a breath then answered, “Yesterday, Jason had a panic attack at the fair, he said he heard the Joker’s laugh. Then he told me he’s been hearing it for the past week, following him around. God I’m so stupid! I thought it was just flashbacks slipping or something. But he’s gotten so much better, it hasn’t happened in a while. I should have _known_ better.”

“You think the Joker has been stalking him?” Barbara asked breathlessly, sounding scared now too. She had issues with her Joker trauma too, no doubt she’s scared, even if she’s really good at hiding it.

Stephanie didn’t respond and went as fast as she could without the chance of getting pulled over. She wasn’t taking the risk of being stopped and not reaching Jason faster.

She could hear faster clicking on the other end of the line, but it seemed more like background noise right now. She got to Jason’s a minute later and pulled into the alley beside the building. She ran as fast as she could up the stairs. As soon as she hit his level, Barbara spoke.

“Stephanie…” Barbara started sadly.

“No. No,” Stephanie denied, shoving her key to his apartment into the lock and turning it. She shoved the door open and rushed in, stopping short.

“No…” Stephanie’s eyes widened looking around the space.

It was a wreck; the coffee table was smashed in, the tall lamp was crashed on the floor, the couch’s side table was flung across the room, the lamp from it completely destroyed, his kitchen table and chairs were knocked over and stuff from the kitchen counter, like mugs and glasses, had been wiped to the floor while the counter stools were either fallen over or broken. There was also a deep dent in the wall by the window.

She ran around the entire apartment, but there was no Jason. But whatever happened, Jason clearly put up a fight.

Feeling completely out of breath, she stopped in the kitchen where she saw Jason’s shoulder bag, the contents fallen out. She bent down and picked up Sparky, looking around the apartment again, her eyes filling with tears.

“Stephanie…” Barbara started again, this time she finished. “He took him. The Joker took Jason.”

Stephanie shook her head, still trying to deny it, “No.” But then she took a deep breath and focused, just accepting it because denying the truth wouldn’t get them anywhere.

“Head to the cave. I’m sending Jason’s home security video to Bruce now. I’ll see you there, Steph. We’ll find him,” Barbara assured her, then cut the call.

Stephanie took another deep breath, keeping her breathing steady, then walked back out of the apartment, taking Sparky with her.

She got to the cave about 15 minutes later, Barbara was already there and was talking with Bruce who was simply in sweats. The rest of the family was there too, also in civvies. They clearly just find out Joker escaped, and the news that Jason was abducted came as a greater shock to the family. They all turned to her when she pulled in and parked her bike. She dropped her helmet beside her bike and ran up to them. They were all standing by the Batcomputer, a security taped pulled up and paused. She skid to a stop, staring at the screen showing Jason’s living room, before whatever happened, happened.

Bruce walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, “We’ll find him.”

Stephanie nodded numbly, still holding the stuffed dog to her chest and smiling a little at Bruce’s sincere promise.

Bruce smiled kindly, though strained, then turned back to the computer to play the video. Stephanie felt sick again as she approached the screen. Alfred, Dick, Tim, Duke and Damian all stood behind her while Cass came up beside her and stood as a comforting presence as they all watched.

“They were waiting for him,” Bruce said calmly, stepping to the side beside Barbara who hadn’t shifted her chair anywhere.

Stephanie took another deep breath as the footage from the one camera Jason allowed to be placed in his apartment, which was between his living room and kitchen, played. The time stamp showed just after 11, so just when he got home after being with her.

The front door opened, and Jason slowly walked in, yawning and looking more shaken than when he’d left. Stephanie shook her head, she knew he was still shaken from his attack only a few hours earlier, he was just good at hiding it. She knew she should have made him stay with her.

Jason took three steps into the apartment and a thug ran out of his bedroom and charged him. Jason’s eyes widened and he sidestepped the guy, swinging his leg quickly under the thug. The thug crashed to the floor and into his kitchen table as another one came at him, grabbed Jason from his low position and flinging him up in the air and towards the kitchen. Jason spun sideways in the air, hit the island counter and slid across to the other side, crashing to the floor hard with the mugs and dishware crashing with him. He took his bag off his shoulder and quickly jumped over the island, grabbing one of the stools and slamming it against the head of the thug who’d thrown him. Jason then kicked the thug in the stomach forcing the guy to back up. Jason then grabbed the lamp from his side table and smashed it on the first thug’s head who’d been getting back up. Then he flipped the side table sideways and kicked it at the second, knocking him down.

Another thug came at Jason and he quickly blocked him and threw the man at the wall, knocking the stools over as he went then hit the lamp and the wall. An even bigger thug came from the bedroom now, about twice as big as Jason. Jason charged him as the thug did. They exchanged a few punches each till the large thug picked Jason up by the throat and slammed him down on the coffee table.

The thug let Jason lay there for a moment, unmoving, then picked him up again by the throat and walked to the wall, slamming him against it a few times before suddenly stopping and looking behind him. Jason looked just about unconscious now. Another thug went up to them, grabbed one of Jason’s arms and held it against the wall. The big thug did the same with Jason’s other arm, holding him in place.

From Jason’s bedroom walked out a man in a bright purple suit with green hair. Stephanie bit her lip hard as the Joker walked up to Jason. The clown gripped Jason’s chin and forced it up. There was no audio so they couldn’t hear what was said and Joker’s back was to the camera so they couldn’t see his face, but she saw fear discretely appear in Jason’s eyes. He struggled some, managing to kick Joker hard in the chest, sending him back onto his ass and freeing one of his arms. The big thug kicked Jason’s right leg hard from the side, breaking it. Jason cried out and the thug slammed his head against the wall again. Joker got to his feet and dusted off his coat then walked up to Jason again.

Joker, pushing Jason’s chin up again, pulled something out of his coat and then slammed it into Jason’s neck. A moment later Jason’s entire body lost all its tension. The thugs let him go and Jason collapsed to the floor, completely sedated. The three thugs Jason had fought stood up as the two by Jason picked him up and started dragging him towards the door. Joker watched, looking gleeful and sadistic. Then he started laughing and clapping as he followed the thugs out, practically skipping, closing the door behind him.

The clip ended there, and no one said anything, shock and sadness filling the cave. They all knew Stephanie was the closest to him, so they didn’t judge her when she let out sob. Especially Cass who slowly turned to her and brought Stephanie into a hug. Stephanie let a few tears fall before stepping back and turning to Bruce, anger seeping in with her fear.

“What’s the plan?” She asked calmly, though she felt the opposite.

Bruce nodded, composed with the posture of Batman now, and turned to the computer to get to work. “We find him, save him, and bring him home, then throw Joker back where he belongs. He should know better than to repeat the same mistake twice, not with me. I will not fail Jason a second time.”

They all nodded, determined, and got to work to bring their lost family member home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter out tonight or tomorrow! Thanks for reading!


	3. And we always search for him,

Finding their location wasn’t as easy as Stephanie was hoping for. Barbara, Tim, and Bruce were all working tirelessly at the computer. The camera’s around Jason’s building had all been tampered with so they didn’t have much to start with. Nightwing, Robin and Signal were all out in the city looking for anything that might help or direct them while Cass stayed with Stephanie, keeping Stephanie calm and preventing any possible attacks she might have while she feared for her best friend. Cass was the only other person who could really help Stephanie like that besides Jason.

But Stephanie hated that she couldn’t do anything. Quite literally. She wasn’t currently composed enough to go out into the field until they actually find Jason for which _she will be going_. And she was good at the whole tech side of the deal, but, not enough to actually help.

Alfred made sure they all ate and took turns at taking power naps, but it was clear that he was very worried himself, probably reliving 5 years ago.

Batman went out around 1 o’clock to investigate Arkham, but came back only with what they already knew.

Around 5 o’clock, Stephanie made the decision that she was going to go out and help search. She was tired of waiting around. Batman only agreed if Cass went with her, and stayed with her. They searched for 3 hours: old warehouses, amusement mile, all the buildings by the docks; nothing. Unless they missed something or they weren’t thinking of some place, it was hopeless this way.

Batgirl and Black Bat returned around 8 o’clock, Stephanie even more worried, because Jason’s been with the Joker for 21 hours. She didn’t even want to think of what the psycho might be doing to Jay.

She began pacing behind the chairs of the three people on the computers. The others returned shortly after she and Cass did. She didn’t even bother asking if they’d found anything, because they would have said so over the comm. The three of them sat in chairs and rested, having been running around since 3 after they’d taken a short break. Stephanie didn’t stop pacing.

After about 5 minutes, Damian groaned.

“Brown, you must cease pacing and calm down. It is helping nothing,” Damian said a bit too snotty for her to just ignore right now.

She stopped, turned on her heel and flat out glared at him. “You think Jason would be calm right now if I’d been taken by Black Mask?! No! So, don’t tell me to be calm brat. Jason is at the mercy of the fucking Joker. Jason’s been with the Joker for almost an entire day. Can you even imagine how much Jason’s had to suffer through so far? Even just physically?! Not including what the Joker could be doing to his mind?!”

Stephanie held her glare, even after Damian averted his eyes a little.

“Stephanie is right,” Bruce started, turning to face them “Jason most certainly would not be calm if the positions were reversed. And Jason likely won’t be unharmed when we find him. And his mind likely won’t be in a good state. Joker likes to play games, and Jason is his favorite toy, which is probably why he’d been stalking Jason for the past week, to make him off balance and scared. But Jason is strong, he will get through it. However, Damian is also right, you need to calm down Stephanie. We’ll need you to be at your best for when we go rescue him.”

Stephanie took a deep breath and nodded, relaxing her posture a little, “Okay. Okay.” Cass came up to her then, and simply hugged her once more. Stephanie reciprocated the hug.

“It is going to be okay,” Cass whispered. “Jason is strongest of us all.” Stephanie nodded, smiling just a little at her words. She felt herself calming more as Cass held the hug.

“I found something,” Barbara said suddenly. Everyone looked over to her immediately and walked closer. They all looked at the screen as Barbara spoke and typed.

“I was looking at all joke, clown, magic stores, that sort of thing. There’s plenty abandoned or bankrupt ones, perfect place for Joker, but one old joke shop on the opposite side of the city from Jason’s apartment, was bought a week ago by a Mr. Rekoj.”

“Joker spelled backwards,” Duke concluded, rolling his eyes at the pathetic simplicity of it.

“He actually _bought_ it?” Dick asked, bewildered by the thought.

“Yes. Probably thought it would be less noticeable in our search, but it just stuck out like a sore thumb,” Barbara replied, turning around a little and smirking.

“Can you access the cameras from the street and possibly inside?” Bruce asked, placing his hand on the desk beside Barbara and looking over her shoulder.

Barbara nodded and furiously moved her fingers again as everyone gathered around her, anxiously waiting for something.

About 30 seconds later there was camera footage on the screen, live of the street outside the shop and there was nothing, not even a light on in the store. Barbara quickly rewound it 21 hours to match with the approximate time Jason would have been taken calculated with how long it would take to get there from Jason’s apartment.

They only had to wait about 1 minute for a minivan to pull up in front of the shop. Joker hopped out of the passenger seat hopping in delight as 5 thugs followed. Another van pulled up behind it and 7 thugs got out of that one. Then the big thug from Jason’s kidnapping opened the trunk and roughly pulled something out; Jason, tied up and still out cold. He then dropped Jason to the ground and dragged him from his tied up hands into the shop.

They waited as Barbara began typing again and about two minutes later she spoke.

“The building has an old security system from when it was still operational. It’s shut off but I might just be able to…”

A second later another feed appeared this one live too; first the inside of the shop, old toys and shelves laying around like an old horror move, then an empty space of the basement with only thugs walking around, and lastly, a smaller room for which Stephanie put a hand over her mouth in shock and the others all inhaled sharply at what they saw.

Jason was hanging from a chain, his hands cuffed together above his head, leaving him dangling in the air. His chin was resting on his chest suggesting he was unconscious. His shirt and pants were gone, leaving him just in his underwear. He had so many injuries, and they could only view his front. Stephanie didn’t even want to think about what his back might look like. There was massive bruising around his ribs, his right leg looked even more broken, so did his left arm which had to be even more painful since that was what was holding him up, he was bleeding in many places, from both blade and what was probably repetitive hits with a crowbar. The said crowbar was sitting on a table to his right, and it was covered in blood, along with a variety of knives and also a small black box. There was also something like an IV stand and tube feeding something into Jason’s right arm.

“What do you suppose that is?” Tim asked quietly, pointing to the IV bag.

“Probably a sedative, to keep him from fighting back. He’s a lot bigger and more dangerous than he was at 15. Just enough to keep him subdued but still awake enough to be able to feel everything,” Bruce supplied, eyes not moving from Jason.

Joker appeared on the screen then, walking up to Jason, tilting his head back and forth as if assessing his unfinished piece of art. He then griped Jason’s hair and forced him to look up. Joker looked somewhat upset now, probably at being ignored. Jason had a black eye, bleeding nose, and also blood dripping from his mouth. Jason cracked his non swollen eye open and smirked a little, then seemed to say something that made Joker smile widely and drop Jason’s head. Joker then walked over to his table and looked at his options for a minute. Jason’s breathing deepened a little, as if he was preparing for the next hit.

Joker finally made a decision and picked up the black device and turned back to Jason, grinning sadistically. Then he pressed a button and Jason’s entire body started seizing as if electric currents were running through him. Thankfully they were unable to hear him, as Jason started screaming in agony. After about a minute, Jason’s head dropped as he fell unconscious, though his body kept seizing.

Joker frowned in frustration, pressed the button and Jason’s seizing stopped. Joker picked up the crowbar and moved within hitting range. He then grinned and swung at Jason’s broken leg, striking it hard and sending a shock through Jason, waking him back up only to scream in pain again. So, that’s why it’s even more broken, it’s Joker’s version of an alarm clock for Jason.

Joker laughed and moved around to Jason’s backside and swung again. Stephanie turned around, unable to watch anymore of that. As did the rest of them. They’d all been standing there in shock, but they knew where he was now.

“Everyone, suit up,” Batman ordered. “We’re going to bring Jason home.”

About 30 minutes later, they were sneaking their way into the joke shop. Stephanie hung in the back of the group with Nightwing and Black Bat. Their job was to get and protect Jason. Once the fighting started, Joker and his goons would be more willing to kill Jason rather than let them rescue him. So, they had to get him during the fight. As much as she wanted to kick Joker’s ass herself, Batman knew that if Jason were conscious, he might need her, and she knew that too. Besides, Bruce was basically calling dibs on Joker anyway, and they all knew Joker would not walk out unharmed. Because Bruce was angry, hell they all were. But Bruce didn’t want Joker to touch any of the rest of them, so they all knew Joker was his. Everyone else would handle the goons. Oracle told them that there were 24 goons total all wearing clown masks, 8 up top and 16 down below. Easy peasy.

The 8 up top were taken out efficiently and silently. Then they headed to the stairs, Batman going down first, then they followed one by one. Stephanie was third to last, Black Bat and Nightwing behind her. As they were going down they heard a very loud pain-filled scream coming from the basement, echoing around the concrete walls. Then a howl of laughter. Stephanie felt her anxiety and anger pounding in her heart and mind even stronger now.

When Batman reached the bottom of the stairs, he tossed a smoke bomb into the room and then charged in, quickly followed by Red Robin, Signal and Robin. They made a lot of noise as the fought the thugs, intentionally to draw Joker out. Batgirl, Black Bat and Nightwing made their way around the edge of the room, avoiding the fighting and heading for Jason. When they reached the far wall they heard laughing, very loud laughing and then the Joker spoke, almost sounding disappointed.

“Well Jay Jay, looks like Bats actually came for you! I know, it comes as a shock to me too seeing as he didn’t come for ya last time, but don’t worry, I’ll make him go away, or I’ll just blow you up again! Ah, now that was a day, me, you, bomby, and crow bar here! You were my greatest masterpiece; killing you and then you come back all murderous and crazy! It was beautiful. And now, my greatest failure, working with the bats and helping people.” Joker said that last part like it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever tasted. Then he continued on cheerfully, “Oh well, I can still rewrite that bit by killing you again! But I’m not done plucking your feathers yet, so, I’ll be back in just one minute my little robin. Don’t go trying to escape again, or I’ll have to break your other leg, and perhaps your arm! Ooo so many options to choose from!”

Joker laughed loudly. It was followed by a loud grunt of pain. Then the door opened, and Joker walked out still holding the bloody crowbar. He closed the door and it locked behind him. Batman immediately noticed but was dealing with a goon. Batgirl and the others didn’t dare move.

Joker grinned at Batman, shaking his head and spoke loudly, “Ah Batsy. I was wondering when you’d show up to retrieve our broken little bird! You know we have shared custody of him right? It’s my weekend! But of course, you want him all to yourself. A little breaking at a young age doesn’t hurt anyone you know.”

Joker laughed and twirled the crowbar in his hand and grinning, walked into the fray as the smoke began to dissipate, heading for Robin, but Batman, passing the goon off to Red Robin, went to cut him off, actually visibly looking pissed.

Batgirl slowly went to the door and unlocked it as fast as she could. She gently opened it, going into the room first and closely followed by the other two who shut the door to a crack. She quickly walked up to Jason, wanting to cry seeing him up close. He looked so broken, both in body and spirit. He was breathing heavily from the most recent hits, his eyes closed and chin down on his chest.

She placed a gentle hand on his cheek, and he struggled to lift his head, opening his eyes a little and smiling the tiniest amount when he saw her.

“Hey Blondie,” he croaked out, “what took y’all so long?”

She smirked bittersweetly, “Traffic was a bitch.” Jason huffed a laugh but then groaned in pain.

“Hey Little Wing,” Nightwing greeted kindly, smiling a little and walking over to Jason’s left side. Jason smiled slightly at him.

Black Bat moved to Jason’s right, “We are going to get you out. Promise.” Jason just nodded minutely, seeming close to passing out.

Cass first took out the drug tube from his arm, causing Jason to grunt a little. Then Nightwing stood on his toes and unlocked the cuffs holding his hands up. Jason instantly collapsed but with their 6 hands, they were able to keep his knees from hitting the ground, which really would have been a bitch on his broken leg.

“You okay to be moved, Little Wing?” Nightwing asked softly. Jason nodded stiffly, his eyes closed. Dick and Cass carefully draped both his arms across their shoulders, Dick being extra careful with Jay’s broken left arm then they slowly headed to the door, having to let Jay’s legs drag behind them due to his height. Just as Stephanie cautiously opened the door, Jason gasped in pain and started seizing again.

“What?!” Nightwing exclaimed as they quickly laid Jason on the floor. His eyes were closed, and he didn’t scream, probably too out of it now. Black Bat examined him and then pointed to something imbedded into the Jason’s neck. Nightwing went to pull it out but Black Bat stopped him.

“Pull it out now, only make it worse. Need to shut it off first,” she explained. Dick nodded then looked out the open door. Batgirl looked out too and saw Joker dancing around the bats, the device in his hand but he’d lost his crowbar. She glanced back down at her seizing best friend then ran out of the door.

She pulled out a batarang and expertly threw it at Joker’s hand. It missed as Joker danced away from it, howling in laughter. Everyone else were fighting the goons still, while Batman handled Joker, but Batman doesn’t know that Jason is being tortured again this very moment with the thing in Joker’s hand. She tried again but Joker moved out of the way just in time at the same moment he was moving away from Batman. Batarang wasn’t working, Joker was moving too much to make the projectile curve the way it should to actually hit his hand and destroy the device.

Stephanie suddenly had a really crazy idea when she saw a goon’s gun laying on the floor. Just going with it, she picked it up and went to the edge of the room, avoiding the goons and bats fighting. She held it up with two hands and first aimed in the general direction of Joker’s hand. In the corner of her eye, she saw the other’s notice what she was doing, and their eyes widened, probably thinking she was about to kill Joker. Hopefully they didn’t try to stop her yet, not that they could as they were all preoccupied.

Neither Joker nor Batman had noticed her as they were slowing facing off now. Joker was tossing the device up into the air and catching it, while grinning, thinking he had the upper hand. Stephanie took a breath, looked down the barrel of the gun, aiming just at the device and anticipating its trajectory up when Joker tossed it, she pulled the trigger.

There were gasps from her family which all turned to shock when the bullet went straight through the device in the air, shattering it to pieces. Joker looked absolutely shocked as the pieces rained down on him and fell into his waiting hand. His eyes wide and mouth gaping, he turned to her, then grinned and started cackling. Batman turned to her briefly in shock and probably anger, then he turned back to Joker and punched him hard enough to knock out teeth.

Stephanie quickly dropped the weapon and ran to the room where Jason still was. He wasn’t seizing anymore but he looked like he might be unconscious now. Cass and Dick both stared up at her, also shocked. Stephanie ignored them and crouched next to Jason then gently pulled the small shocker thing out of his neck, tossing it away.

She looked up at the two that were still staring at her. “Come on, we need to get him out of here.” The two quickly registered that and gently picked Jason up, draping his arms across their shoulders and slowly pulling him out of the room. Stephanie walked out first leading the way.

They had just walked out when Stephanie looked across the room and saw a goon holding a small bazooka, aimed at them. Stephanie turned just as it was fired, and looked wide eyed as Jason yanked Dick, who hadn’t been paying attention, down to the ground with his broken arm, the shot sailing over them right where Dick’s head would have been. It hit the back wall of the torture room and Black Bat hurried over and shut the door to limit the blast then dropped to the floor beside Jason and Dick as the shot exploded. Stephanie had hit the ground just before it went off.

The door flew off its hinges and into the space, flying right over them. The door hit the goon who shot the bazooka, knocking him out. The others who were still standing all staggered as the walls and floor shook. The room behind them thankfully didn’t catch on fire due to all four walls and floor being concrete, which was nonflammable. But the back wall of the room now had a large gaping hole in it, leading to the basement next door.

Stephanie scrambled to her feet as Dick and Cass lifted Jason up again, who was definitely now unconscious. Signal ran over to them still seeming a bit shaky from the blast.

“Go, I’ll cover you!” Duke told them, facing the two goons now coming towards them, who’d probably been ordered not to let Jason escape, like the bazooka dude. Batgirl again led the way through the room as Signal did as he said. Red Robin and Robin finishing up with the other last two goons on the other side of the room and Batman was beating the Joker on the ground, angrily. Then seeing them, Batman ran over and helped Signal take out the very last two goons.

And then there was silence. All the goons were down, and Joker was groaning and giggling on the ground. Batgirl, Nightwing and Black Bat all paused as the fight was over. Jason was unmoving as his head hung down and blood dripped from his nose and mouth to the floor.

Batman walked closer to Jason and looked at him for a moment. He then looked at everyone in the room, “Go. Take him home. Agent A and the Doc should be waiting to receive him. I’ll stay and watch Joker and his goons.”

Everyone nodded, then Robin stated, “I’ll stay with you.”

Batman shook his head, and looking at Joker, he said, “No. Go home with the others. I’m not finished with Joker yet.”

Robin nodded in understanding while Joker began laughing, but to the bat family’s ears, they all heard the tremble of fear in his laugh.

Then they all headed to the stairs, Robin now leading, and obviously trying to avoid looking at Jason. Black Bat and Nightwing carefully flipped Jason over and held him up by the underside of his shoulders while Red Robin and Signal carefully held up his legs. They slowly went up the stairs, Batgirl followed after one glance at Batman, who was looking murderously at Joker. She knew he would never kill Joker, they all did, but that doesn’t mean Bruce won’t make him pay. Jason was family, and this family is not one to fuck with, not after all they’ve gone through. And especially, not by Joker. Stephanie smirked sadly, but satisfied knowing Batman was going to punish Joker before carting him off to Arkham.

She walked up the stairs behind the others, back through the store and out onto the street where the Batplane was now waiting, the fastest and safest way to get Jason back home. Oracle had flown it here during the fight with remote controls back at the cave. Batgirl, Robin, Black Bat and Signal got on the plane while Nightwing and Red Robin who’d rode their bikes here, with Batgirl and Black Bat on the backs of them, had to go back on their bikes. The batmobile remained out front for when Batman was done.

Stephanie sat beside the bed which Jason had been placed on at the back of the plane and took his right hand. He was out cold now and had an oxygen mask on already, to keep his troubled breathing steady.

Stephanie put her cowl down and quietly allowed herself to cry. Smiling sadly and gently squeezing Jason’s hand, she whispered, tears sliding down her face, “Hang in there, Jay. We’re going home.”

Jason didn’t say anything, or moved, or anything. Stephanie wiped her cheek with her free hand then lurched with the plane as it took off. She squeezed Jason’s hand again, silently promising that she would be by his side for however long it took him to recover.

She sniffled again, then spoke again in a whisper, “You’re going home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update out tomorrow... more than likely :]  
> Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!!


	4. But he always comes back to us,

They reached the cave in two minutes. As soon as the ramp was down, Signal and Black Bat wheeled Jason down on a stretcher onto the platform where Alfred and Dr. Tompkins met them. Batgirl and Robin followed.

“Dear lord,” Leslie said upon seeing Jason, shaking her head some in shock. Alfred, pale as a ghost, didn’t say anything and just took Signal’s position and pushed Jason to the med bay, Leslie directly following.

The four vigilantes all stood there for a moment, watching where Jason had been taken. After a minute, Stephanie took a breath and headed to the locker room, wanting to finish her after patrol routine before they were done with Jason. The other three slowly followed her.

She took the fastest shower she has probably ever had, put on sweatpants, t-shirt, socks and a hoodie, put her hair up in a bun, then went back into the cave. That had been about 20 minutes. Nightwing and Red Robin looked like that had just got back.

Red Robin, mask off, came up to Stephanie and smiled sadly. “How is he?”

Stephanie shook her head and glanced at the med bay, where she couldn’t see in past the doors. “I don’t know. Al and Doc took him back right when we arrived. That was only 20 minutes ago.”

Tim nodded, then looked at her, “How are you?”

She shrugged but didn’t verbally respond. They stood there for second before Tim pulled her into a hug. Stephanie gladly accepted it and hugged back.

After a minute, trying to keep from thinking about Jay, she scrunched her nose and quipped, “You know you’re all sweaty and gross right?”

Tim huffed and pulled back, smirking minutely. “I know. I’ll go hit the showers.” Stephanie nodded and watched Tim walk off. Cass walked out of the locker rooms and up to her, but didn’t say anything.

Dick sat down at the computer console, obviously worried, and just blankly stared at the screen. Barbara rolled her chair beside him and didn’t say anything. One by one the rest came out of the locker rooms in civvies and sat in various places around the cave. They were all in a deep worry for their brother. After everyone had come out and with a prompting from Barbara, Dick finally stood up and went to the locker rooms. He was only in there for about 10 minutes when he came back out, showered and dressed, then reclaimed his seat at the computer.

They hadn’t heard anything from Alfred or Leslie by the time Batman finally rolled in, which was an hour later than when the first group got back with Jason. No one said a word to him, or asked him what he did to the Joker. They just watched as Bruce came up from the parking deck, glanced around at them all, his eyes lingering a moment longer on Stephanie, then towards the med bay, and then just went to the locker room.

Stephanie sighed, curled up into her chair and holding Sparky once again, finding comfort in the small little dog. Cass sat beside her, also curled up onto the chair. Bruce came back out 10 minutes later and sat at the computer, further away from everyone else.

And so, they waited in silence.

About 3 hours later, closing in on 1 in the morning, Alfred came out, looking pale and shaken. Everyone stood up and walked over to him. Alfred didn’t speak for a moment, simply clasping his hands together in front of him.

Then he took a breath and summed it up calmly. “Master Jason is stable, but he has several severe injuries. His right leg has been broken in seven different places, his left arm in two, both arms were dislocated from the shoulder, four broken ribs, two cracked, deep internal bruising and external bruising, a black eye, a severe concussion, several deep cuts required stitching, minor bruising to one of his lungs, and his heart’s rhythm was damaged from the electric shocks, but it is stabilizing. It is unlikely he will wake within the next couple of days and we’re keeping him on oxygen, IV, and hooked up to a heart monitor till he does. Possibly after he wakes as well. And as soon as Dr. Tompkins is done cleaning, we will be moving him upstairs.”

Everyone nodded solemnly, not saying anything.

“I suggest you all get some sleep. It has been a long day,” Alfred ordered quietly. They all nodded again and watched as Alfred walked back to the med bay.

Bruce sighed and waved them off, “Go on. Get some rest.”

They slowly started making their way up when Bruce put a hand on Stephanie’s shoulder.

“I need to speak to you for a minute, Stephanie,” Bruce said calmly. The others looked back at gave her encouraging smiles then continued up. Bruce didn’t say anything till they all left.

Stephanie turned to face him but didn’t speak, unsure if this would be about Jason, or what she did back in that basement. She’s pretty sure it’ll be the latter looking at Bruce’s serious expression.

Bruce looked in her eyes and spoke calm but seriously, “Stephanie, I don’t like that you used a gun, especially with the high risk of hitting someone in such a small space. I understand it wasn’t your first choice, I saw the batarangs, but I was unsure of what you were trying to hit until Joker started taunting me with the device and I realized he’d probably activated it. You’re lucky you shot when you did because I was about to take care of it myself.” Bruce raised a brow at her and instinctively averted her gaze a little.

He put a hand on her shoulder again, so she turned back to him, and was surprised to see a softer expression there now.

“Nonetheless, it was a very nice shot. I’m sure Jason would have been proud of it, considering he’s our marksman. You took a risk to save Jason, a risk that payed off. If the electricity continued any longer it might have killed him with the state he was already in. But I trust, you will refrain from using a gun in the future.”

Stephanie nodded, “I won’t... er, I will, refrain from using one I mean.”

Bruce nodded and removed his hand, “Good. Where did you learn to shoot anyhow?” He raised a brow but smirked knowingly.

Stephanie felt pink rise to her face as she smiled a little, “Jason taught me. But it was at the fair a couple days ago, at one of those shooting booths.”

Bruce’s brow remained risen, “You applied his teachings of how to shoot a plastic gun at a carnival game, to a real gun in a very dangerous situation?”

Stephanie nodded hesitantly, shrugging slightly, “He said it was basically the same…”

Bruce sighed and nodded, “Alright. And one last thing.” His expression became one of simple curiosity as he pointed to the stuffed animal in her arms. “Why have you been holding that? You had it this morning and again now.”

Stephanie smiled widely, though a bit pained, “Jason won it at the fair, at the shooting booth. His name is Sparky, and we agreed to share him because, well, just because. Like a symbol of our friendship or something. It’s been helping me stay, relatively calm during all this, because it reminds me of him, _happy_ him. Happy Jason is something I always keep in mind, I love to see him happy, and it shows how much progress he’s made. Of course, now, he’ll probably have lost months of that progress…” Stephanie grew sad again, fully realizing that.

Bruce looked thoughtful and after a moment he asked, “Sparky, you said?”

Stephanie nodded, furrowing her brows a little. Bruce smirked a classic Bat smirk, then smiled at her.

“You should go get some sleep now Steph. I’ll help Alfred and Leslie take Jason upstairs.”

Stephanie nodded again, smiling this time, then did as she was told.

Except she couldn’t sleep. She felt tired, but her brain was wired with anxiety. Her room was on the same hall as Jason’s was, and no that wasn’t a coincidence. She’d been trying to go to sleep for about 30 minutes when she finally heard them bring Jason upstairs, via the elevator. Stephanie quickly but quietly got out a bed and pressed her ear against the door.

There was whispering and she only caught a little, first spoken by Leslie.

“-has been through so much already. I mean if it weren’t for his healing factor he got from the pit, I’d say he'd never be able to properly use his leg again.”

“Then under the circumstances, let’s just be glad he does have that ability,” Bruce whispered sadly.

Leslie sighed, “It will still be 6 months in a wheelchair with the severity of all the breaks, even with the pit. 5 at the least. It’ll take at least 3 months for his arm to heal so no crutches...”

The voices faded as they went, and she heard a door open and then softly close.

Stephanie sighed sadly and plopped back down on the bed.

 _6 months in a wheelchair? Jay is going to hate that,_ Stephanie thought. She groaned a little and got back under the covers of her bed, trying in vain to find sleep. She knew it would take at least like 20 minutes to get Jason fully settled, probably clothed too, if they could even get clothes on him.

She was able to fall into a restless sleep for a little while, but after she woke up, she gave up. She needed to see Jason. It had been about an hour and a half since they brought him up, so it should be okay. She quietly got out of bed, grabbed Sparky from the nightstand and slowly made her way out into the hallway. She crept down to Jason’s room and cautiously opened the door.

The first thing she saw was Jason. He was laying on the bed, hooked up to 3 different things, a full leg cast under loose sweatpants and propped up on a pillow, a full arm cast, he wasn’t wearing a shirt so she could see all the bandages wrapped around his torso, and he had bandages on his head. With the skin she could see from the moonlight coming in the window, she could tell he was extremely pale.

She’d been staring at him for a minute when she suddenly tensed from the feeling of being watched. She looked past Jason’s bed and saw Bruce sitting in an armchair beside it. There was an empty chair beside him, actually closer to Jason’s head. Bruce was looking at her, but unsurprised.

“It’s okay Stephanie, you can come in,” he said kind and softly.  

She slowly walked into the room, gently shutting the door behind her. Bruce gestured to the chair beside him, smiling a little.

Stephanie smiled back, realizing he’d pulled that chair up for her, knowing she would come see Jason at some point in the night. She quietly sat down, bringing her legs up to her chest and placing the stuffed dog by Jason’s head. He had an IV drip connected to his right arm, oxygen feeding through his nose, and heart monitor connected to his chest, the cart with all that was beside the small nightstand on the right side of the bed.

She hugged her legs and placed her chin on her knees, and just looked at him.

“He shouldn’t look like this,” she mumbled mostly to herself. “Jason… he didn’t deserve this.”

Bruce responded quietly, “No, he didn’t. But it happened, and all we can do, is make sure it never does again. And help him recover as best we can. We’re his family, we’ll always be there for him. As long as he knows that, he’ll be okay.”

Stephanie nodded, then leaned back into the big chair, keeping her knees up. She looked at Bruce in the corner of her eye.

“What did you do to Joker?” She asked carefully.

Bruce didn’t answer right away, just looked at Jason. After a minute or two, Stephanie assumed he wasn’t going to answer and just refocused on Jason, watching and counting his breaths.

“He will be incapable of leaving Arkham for a least a year, probably longer,” Bruce answered simply, very quietly.

Stephanie let a satisfied smirk grow, “Good.” She saw Bruce smirk slightly in the corner of her eye. If Joker will be unable to get out, that will provide a better feeling of safety for Jason as he recovers from this and Stephanie was sure, that was part of Bruce’s reasoning for doing whatever he did. The safety of his son.

They didn’t speak any more after that, just watched Jason breathing.

Stephanie fell asleep eventually as her body required it. She woke up when the sun was shining in the window behind her. She felt extremely stiff from sleeping in the chair, but she smiled at seeing a blanket had been draped over her. Barely moving her head, she glanced over to where Bruce had been sitting, to find that he was still there, but asleep. She smirked lightly at actually seeing him sleep, because for a long time, she honestly thought he never did, but like an hour a week.

Sighing, she hesitantly looked over at Jason, the shadows of the chairs casting him in a warm but darker light. He looked the same as he did last night.

Stephanie didn’t know how long he’d been watching Jason sleep when Alfred quietly walked in. He didn’t seem surprised to see her there and just gave her a warm smile.

“Good morning Miss Stephanie. I see Master Bruce actually caught a few hours.” Alfred smirked a little, as did Stephanie.

But then his smile faltered as he looked down at Jason. He then walked over to the cart that had the heart monitor and oxygen set up on. It was then she noticed he was holding a new IV bag. Stephanie just watched as he took care of Jason, not speaking, knowing Alfred hated seeing any of them hurt.

“He’s so young,” Alfred quietly said to himself after a few minutes. Stephanie looked back up at him, having turned away briefly, but he was looking sadly down at Jason, gently running his through his hair. “So much trauma in his first 20 years. I shall never grow accustomed to seeing him like this, though I fear it will last far longer than any of his previous injuries. I shall never grow accustomed to seeing any of you hurt, as much as I act that I have.” He looked up at her now, and by the look in his eyes, she couldn’t help but feel like a secret had just been shared with her. Even though they all knew it. It was just something that was never acknowledged out loud.

Stephanie smiled softly and nodded. Alfred smiled kindly back, then turned down to Jason once more. He leaned down and gently kissed Jason’s brow, then quietly walked to door.

Looking to her, he asked, “Would you care from some breakfast Miss Stephanie? Or something to drink?”

Stephanie smiled, “Maybe just something to drink. Thanks Alfred.”

Alfred nodded, then quietly left the room. Stephanie resumed her watching of her best friend, just happy to see his chest softly moving up and down, like the rise and fall of ocean waves on a calm day. She should take him to the beach when he’s able, it would probably be nice for him after the likely event of him being confined to this house for a least the first month.

Stephanie curled into the chair more comfortably, leaning her head on the arm chair's flap up top. She didn’t actually know what’s it’s called, but flap is an okay enough description. She stayed that way till Alfred brought up tea. Bruce was awake then, but he hadn’t said anything, probably remembering what had happened yesterday.

The rest of the day people came and went. Bruce eventually left to attend to some work he had to do. Stephanie declared she wouldn’t be leaving this room till Jason was at least awake so, someone would always be with him. The others came and visited either by themselves or as a pair, and they all came multiple times. Tim eventually brought Stephanie her school things, so she wouldn’t fall behind. But she didn’t think she’d get to them today, honestly too depressed to work, or do anything.  She couldn’t really eat either. So, she just sat there. Occasionally moving around the room or playing music or reading to Jason. When the others came in and conversed with her, it helped relieve her mind a little, but it didn’t last.

Stephanie was closer to Jason than anyone, has been for over a year. They did almost everything together. She had almost convinced him to apply for college, but the whole him still being legally dead thing got in the way, and they haven’t brought it up with Bruce yet. She knew he wanted to go, but his anxiety got in the way of him fully pursuing it. But he had been getting there. They’ve helped each other in so many ways, especially in overcoming their traumas and mental illnesses, but she knew what happened would set Jason back. But she would help him, like she did before, like he did for her.

She has sometimes teased him that they were soul siblings, meant to be a pair but didn’t meet until much later in their lives. And now it felt like a part of her was gone, almost. Like she could feel it, hanging like a phantom where it should be, but she couldn’t see or feel it like she should.

The next two days occurred in the same fashion. And on the fourth morning, when Stephanie had finally decided to crack open her English book, and admittedly falling asleep on it, something finally changed.

She was the only one in the room and she’d been trying to refocus when Jason’s heart monitor started to beat faster, until it was going far too fast to be normal.

Stephanie’s eyes widened and she jumped out of the chair, letting her book hit the floor. She leaned over to look at Jason’s face which had an expression of pure panic. He was struggling to try and move but couldn’t.

She gently put a hand on his cheek and the other on his head, catching his panicked eyes with her concerned ones.

“Hey, shh, it’s okay, you’re safe. It’s just me, it’s Stephanie. I swear you’re safe, okay?”

Jason nodded minutely then shut his eyes, taking deeper breaths through his nose. But then there was the clear sign of a herd coming down the hall, causing his breathing and his heart rate to increase again.

“Shh, hey it’s okay,” she tried for a moment. The door opened, and Stephanie immediately looked up, glaring slightly and holding her hand up. Bruce instantly stopped, looking concerned but did as she said. Everyone behind him made confused noises till Cass made a distinct “shhh” noise and they all shut up.

Stephanie turned back to Jason whose eyes were still squeezed shut. She gently sat on the bed now beside his shoulder and cupped his face gently with both hands.

Looking down on his face she whispered, “Hey, Jay, if you can hear me, just nod a little.” He did.

“Okay. Can you open your eyes? I promise it’s just me here, okay. Just look at me.” She lined up her head to be eye to eye with him, her hair was back in a bun thankfully, so it wasn’t dangling on his face.

Jason took a few deeper breaths and then slowly opened his eyes, and all she saw was fear and pain.

She smiled as softly as she could, “See? Just me. You’re in the manor. The entire family is here. Not in the room, but in the house. And he is far far away and incapable of hurting you. He’s gone, I promise.”

Jason struggled a swallow and nodded a tiny amount. His breathing was steadying out and the beeping on the monitor was gradually slowing.

“Okay. Now, Alfred probably needs to look at you, now that you’re awake, so how about just Alfred comes in okay? And then we’ll see how you feel about the rest coming in, okay?”

Jason nodded again but she saw a slight fear, different from a moment ago. She knew it well as it was one of Jason’s biggest fears, grown more specifically from his childhood.

She caught his eyes again and smiled kindly, “Hey, listen, this isn’t weakness Jason. What happened wasn't your fault and it doesn’t make you weak. You are one of the strongest people I know, but even strong men can break, and then they rise from the ashes even stronger. You are not weak. No one in the family thinks you are. And what’s going on in your mind, is not a weakness. It’s an illness, and just like your body, it will get better. You are not weak, Jay.”

Jason smiled a tiny little one, and nodded minutely.

She nodded back, “Okay. I’m going to let Alfred in now, is that okay?”

He nodded again. Stephanie leaned back and just as she stood up, Alfred quietly came into the room, shutting the door behind him.

Alfred smiled kindly and came over to Jason, “Good morning Master Jason, good to see you awake.” Jason smiled a little in return.

Stephanie put a hand on Jason’s cheek, “I’ll be right back okay?” Jason nodded, seeming okay to be alone with Alfred. She nodded then walked to the door, quietly exiting and shutting the door.

She leaned back against it and faced the rest of the family who were all standing there, concerned.

“What happened?” Barbara asked gently.

Stephanie sighed, “He had a small panic attack when he woke up, probably thinking he was still with Joker.”

Everyone nodded understanding, but Damian just huffed, causing them to look over at him.

Damian spoke condescendingly, “How weak must he be to let his mental strength succumb to the Joker so easily?”

Stephanie instantly felt an anger rise as she glared at Damian, stepping forward to snap at him for sprouting more feelings of self-superiority, but Cass put a hand on her arm.

“He does not know,” she told her quietly.

Stephanie turned to her, confused, “How does he not know?”

Damian simply rose a brow and said, annoyed, “What do I not know?”

Dick was about to speak but Bruce put a hand on Damian’s shoulder and spoke looking at Dick.

“I’ll tell him.”

Dick nodded and Damian looked up at him, clearly growing confused. Then Bruce led Damian to another room, quietly shutting the door.

Stephanie repeated her question, “How does he not know Jason has PTSD? I know all of you know.”

Dick answered softly, “We didn’t want him know, about Jason’s or yours, simply because we didn’t want him having to worry about either of you. Also, to protect him from knowing that there are real consequences that you two continue to suffer from.”

Stephanie nodded, understanding that reasoning. That all stood there quietly for a couple minutes till Bruce and Damian came back out. Damian led and he was looking at his hands as he stopped in front of Stephanie.

He looked up at her and she could see he felt a bit guilty about it. He spoke quietly but sure.

“I apologize for my ignorance Brown. I was unaware. Todd is certainly not weak, not to have had to endure what he has. And neither are you.”

She smiled warmly down to him, “It’s okay Damian.”

“When do you expect it will be okay for us to see him?” Damian asked, hopeful.

Stephanie sighed, “Probably after Alfred is done checking him over, just don’t crowd him. It will make him feel trapped, more than he probably already does as he can’t really move. And I don’t think he’s up to talking, whether it’s because he can’t or if the feelings of anxiety are still lingering, so, just don’t expect a reply, or constant replies.”

They all nodded in understanding. A moment later, Alfred opened the door.

“You all can come in now, but proceed slowly,” he told them quietly.

Stephanie walked in first, followed by Damian, then Bruce and the others. Jason was sitting up slightly now, with another pillow behind him. He still had the oxygen and the IV, but the chords connected to the heart monitor had been removed. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady. Stephanie moved to the bed, sitting gently beside him on his left side to avoid the IV and oxygen tube on his right. He opened his eyes and slightly turned to her, smiling a little bit more natural than before. He then turned to the rest of the family, who’d all stopped about a foot away from the edge of the bed. Bruce however came and sat on the edge of the bed, but not close enough to accidentally brush against Jason.

Jason smirked and waved a little at them with his right hand, not lifting his arm. The family immediately relaxed some, smiling more now.

Bruce smiled softly at Jason, “Good to see you’re back with us, Jase. You had us all worried there for a while.”

“You were out for three days,” Duke added, putting his hands in his pocket and smirking a little.

Jason rose a brow then smirked, but Stephanie saw it was a bit pained.

“Can’t take me down that easily, again,” Jason quipped, his voice very rough, but he said the last word quieter, more to himself.

Stephanie poked him in the left leg. He looked over at her, but not fully.

She rose a brow at him and spoke softly, “Don’t.” His mouth twitched up a little as he nodded once minutely.

“Jaylad,” Bruce started, so Jason turned to him, “what happened wasn’t your fault, and we will all be here for you as you recover from this, and we know not just physically. It will take time, but we’re here. I trust you know that.”

Jason looked around at his family who were smiling and nodding, assuring Jason what Bruce said was true. He then smiled slightly and nodded in return.

Stephanie smiled wider and turned to Jason, who smiled back at her. Perhaps Jason did lose some of the progress he’d made in overcoming his trauma and his PTSD, but Stephanie had a feeling he’ll get better quicker than the first time, now that he has so much family there to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter will probably be out Thursday, sorry. Lot going on and I haven't gotten much done on it yet, but hey, the more time I have to work on it the better it will be :D
> 
> And just to add, Damian is about 10 here, and yes he knows a lot about the world, but I like to think that the family still tries to let him have that childlike innocence where they can, like not telling him two of his siblings still suffer from their pasts, so,  
> :)  
> Thanks for reading!


	5. And we're always there to welcome him home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, little later than I anticipated. I had a lot going on the past couple days. But here it is, enjoy!!

The first few days after Jason first woke up, mainly consisted of Jason sleeping, getting a little food down, and Stephanie talking his ear off. Jason still wasn’t at a point of actually wanting to talk, because one, after Leslie examined his throat determined he had strained it and two, he was still just trying to cope.

He had pretty much repeated one of the worst days of his life, minus the ending, and he had nightmares every time he fell asleep, about what just happened, 5 years ago, and everything horrible in between. Which didn’t help his voice or his mind. Leslie and Bruce were talking about actual treatments for Jason’s PTSD, like medicine and therapy. Leslie had set up Stephanie with therapy when she’d gone to Africa. But Stephanie’s trauma could be easily altered by one or two details to be civilian. Jason’s trauma, was surrounded by the fact he was Robin and the fact he’d actually died. So, it could only be someone Batman trusts.

Leslie and Alfred still haven’t mentioned to Jason that he would be confined to a wheelchair for 6 months, something Stephanie doesn’t think has even crossed Jason’s mind yet, long term wise. They had to use a desk wheelie chair to get Jason to the bathroom but, past that, Jason hasn’t brought it up.

After about a week and a half, Jason was finding his voice again, but didn’t have lots of energy to hold long conversations. He was more awake and attentive though and he was no longer on IV nor did he need the oxygen. But it was after this change, that Leslie and Alfred finally told him what his full recovery would look like.

“6 months?!” Jason groaned and let his head fall back on his 3 pillow high stack. Stephanie smirked pityingly.

Leslie smirked sympathetically, “Yes. Due to the severity of your leg breaks, your arm breaks, and your ribs, crutches are not an option. And yes, your leg will more than likely take that long to heal. Your arm should heal in 3 to 4 months but will not be up to strength to using crutches. Your ribs will take around 2 months.”

Jason stared at the ceiling but nodded along.

Alfred spoke then, “Master Bruce has requested, though it is more of a ‘declared absolute’, that you remain at the manor, at least until your ribs heal.”

“Yeah, I saw that one coming,” Jason mumbled at the ceiling. He brought his head up right, though closed his eyes for a moment from dizziness then looked at them. “Anything else?”

Leslie nodded, carefully looked at Alfred and Stephanie then back to Jason. “Bruce and I have been discussing treatments for your PTSD.”

Jason furrowed his brows, “Seriously?”

Leslie nodded but Alfred responded, “In complete honesty, Master Bruce has been thinking on this subject since you first returned home over a year ago, but did not wish to overstep. And in the past months, you seemed to be doing well with Miss Stephanie. But with the recent events and the past several days, he has decided it is probably time that he should step in and offer help. It is still only an offer Master Jason, the decision is yours but, it is in all our opinion that you would benefit from more professional help.”

Jason seemed unsure and turned to Stephanie when she put a light hand on his shoulder.

She smiled encouragingly, “You know I had therapy for a few months after it happened. And I tried meds for a little while, but that really depends on the person. I know how you feel about drugs like that, but you don’t even have to do them for the illness in general, maybe just for your nightmares, so you can sleep better. As your best friend and your partner in all this, I think it would help you, at least to try. Therapy at least.”

Jason nodded slowly and a quiet filled the room for minute as he thought about it.

After that minute, he took a deep breath and nodded, looking up at them, “Okay. But just one question, who in their right mind would even want to be my therapist? Who even could? Wouldn’t me spilling my past reveal a whole lot of identities…?”

“That was three questions Jaylad,” Bruce said, smiling a little, as he softly opened the door. Stephanie rose a brow, wondering if he’d been standing outside the door the whole time waiting to hear Jason’s answer to the offered help. It’s Bruce, of course he was.

Jason rose a brow too, “Creeper. But do you have an answer to them?" Bruce came in and closed the door, walking over to stand beside Alfred.

“Dinah Lance,” Bruce answered simply.

Stephanie smiled as both of Jason’s brows rose, “The Black Canary?”

Bruce nodded, “She has some experience counseling. She’s been helping Roy Harper recover from his own issues and he’s made good progress. She has agreed and is willing to help you too, after some training though for treating PTSD. But she is trustworthy, and I think she could really help you Jason.”

Jason nodded slowly, looking somewhere off to the left. He then took a breath and turned back to Bruce and nodded again. “Okay, why not.”

Bruce smiled and nodded once, “Okay. I’ll let her know then. The training should only take a week and then, if you’re ready, you can start.”

Jason smiled a little and Stephanie smiled widely, knowing the reason Jason was so unsure about it, was because talking about trauma can hard and to have to talk to someone at a therapy session was intimidating. At least till he gets used to it.

The rest of the day, Bruce was talking with Dinah and Leslie started the process of finding the right medicine for Jason’s nightmares. Stephanie stayed with Jason like she had been, as the rest of the family trickled in at one point or another. Damian was actually first and asked Jason about his PTSD, even asked if there was anything he could do to help. Jason had been surprised by that but told him kindly that there wasn’t. Damian left shortly after that, ordering Jason to get some rest, which Jason thankfully did.

Next in was Dick and Barbara, who quietly entered seeing Jason was still kind of asleep. Kind of as in he’s having a nightmare but at least not one where he’s flinching and mumbling, and thankfully not one where he’s screaming. That had been a frightening shock to Damian, Duke, and Dick a few days ago. They hadn’t been around the occasional times Jason stayed at the manor and happened to have a nightmare while there, so they hadn't heard that before.

While Jason was restlessly sleeping, Barbara and Dick just talked with Stephanie and even helped her with her econ homework. About 15 minutes had passed when they heard a quiet distressing noise from Jason. They all turned to him. After a moment, Jason woke with a jolt, eyes snapping open. They he immediately shut them and groaned in pain. He held his right hand over his ribs and breathed deeply through his nose.

“You know touching it doesn’t lessen the pain, it usually makes it worse moron,” Stephine commented, smirking lightly.

Jason turned his head and slowly opened his eyes to glare at her. But then he removed his hand from over his ribs.

He sighed, “Did I at least get an hour?”

“Yeah, just about,” Stephanie replied smiling.

Jason nodded then opened his eyes more and noticed Barbara and Dick sitting beside her.

“Hey Barbie, Dicky,” Jason smiled lightly.

They both smiled at him, and Barbara verbally greeted him, “Good afternoon, Jason. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m just fine. Nightmares and broken bones, average day. Though I did find out I’ll be stuck in a wheel chair for about 6 months, so that sucks.”

Barbara smiled sympathetically, “Alfred told me.”

Jason smirked apologetically, “Sorry, I shouldn’t complain.”

Barbara simply raised a brow, still smiling, “It’s fine Jason. I complained for a while. It took me a long time to adjust. But your injury isn’t permanent, so just be happy about that.”

Jason nodded then smirked, “So, can I borrow one of your chairs?”

Stephanie and Dick laughed a little while Barbara furrowed her brows. “What? I only have the one chair Jason.”

Jason actually looked a little surprised. “What? I thought you had like a Barbara chair and an Oracle chair…”

Barbara laughed now and shook her head, “No, just the one I’m sitting in. But I’m more than happy to help find a chair for you.”

Jason smirked a little embarrassed and nodded in thanks. Stephanie smirked at him and he stuck his tongue out at her.

“Hey Jay,” Dick started, drawing Jason’s attention back to them. “I just wanted to say thanks for saving my head in that basement. I know that must have been hell on your arm.”

Jason just stared at Dick for a moment, then shook his head. “Honestly Dickhead, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That’s because you blacked out right after you did it,” Stephanie added. “You pulled Dick down to the ground as a bazooka was fired at you. It would have gone through Dick’s head if you hadn’t noticed it. It landed in that room and we all avoided the blast.”

Jason just raised a brow, “Okay… yeah I don’t remember that, but it sounds like I did a heroic thing, so, you’re welcome.” Jason smirked at Dick who just huffed, smiling a little. Barbara and Stephanie both rolled their eyes, but smiled too.

They stayed for a little while longer after that, Barbara helping Stephanie with her homework while Dick and Jason talked. At least until Tim, Damian and Duke came in carrying a wii console and 4 remotes. Though Damian was holding a sketchbook and pencil case.

Jason glared at them slightly as they set it up at the tv in across from Jason’s bed without saying a word.

“Really? You idiots know I only have one hand right? It'd be mean to force me to watch you have fun while I can't even do anything,” Jason snarked at them.

Tim nodded, “Yes, we know. That’s why the wii, because there are games that only require one hand holding the remote, and we brought all of those games. We thought some sibling quality time would be fun. Like all of us in the same room.”

Jason’s lip twitched up but he didn’t respond. Stephanie shook her head and refocused on what Barbara was trying to show her. Tim and Duke sat on the floor at the foot of the bed, Dick turned his chair beside Jason’s bed to face the tv and put his feet up on the bed, and Damian sat in the window, opening his sketchbook. Barbara and Stephanie just stayed at the table they were sitting at, halfway between the window and the bed.

Stephanie grinned at Jason as he played with his brothers. She didn’t think they’ve ever really done something like that before. Maybe after all this, Jason will actually be closer to them. They’ll never be as close as she and Jason are, but they can finally be more like brothers and do more brotherly things. Bruce briefly stuck his head in the door crack, but after seeing all of his kids hanging out in the same room, he just smiled and quietly left.

From all the horror of what happened, finally brought Jason all the way back to his family. Stephanie couldn’t help but smile at that. The first time Jason had no one, for years, and now he has all of them. Isn’t it awesome how some things change for the better after all sorts of hell? If anyone deserved that sort of change, it was Jason.

_7 weeks later_

“It’s going to look like a wreck. I haven’t been home in like 2 months. I’m going to have to get like all new furniture, do a deep clean.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes, pushing Jason’s chair onto the elevator of his apartment building.

“Jason, it’s probably not as bad as you think,” she tried, not wanting to spoil what was apparently going to be a surprise, since for some reason it hadn’t occurred to him that they would fix his apartment after his abduction.

Jason just sighed and leaned his head back against the back on his wheelchair, looking up at her. Jason had become accustomed to the chair pretty quickly. Since he didn’t have both hands to roll the wheels himself, he had an electric one but it could still be pushed. His ribs were mostly healed and his concussion was gone, so, as Jason had become restless in the manor, Bruce agreed to let him go back to his apartment. Under one condition, one Stephanie was pretty excited about; Stephanie was to live with him till he no longer needed the chair. Jason of course had been fine with that, and was thankful for that, too, not quite comfortable with the idea of living on his own again after what had happened. The event had struck Jason in different ways, one being; really shaking his confidence. But he was getting better.

Jason had a guest room, so it made more sense for them to go back to his place than him living at her place, as she didn’t have a guest room. And also, he needed to go back there.

“How did your session with Dinah go this morning?” Stephanie asked curiously.

Jason shrugged, “It went fine. Told her I was going back today. She said that would probably be good for me, returning to the scene and to get comfortable being more on my own again.”

“And you’ve got me to help with that too.” Stephanie grinned down at him and he smirked back.

The elevator dinged to his floor and before Jason could move it forward, Stephanie pushed his chair out herself.

Jason shook his head, “You know, I have a powered chair for a reason, so I can move it myself.”

“Yeah I know, but then you couldn’t go this fast,” Stephanie exclaimed, pushing at a running pace. Jason barely reacted.

“Because I need to go this fast,” he quipped. “And you passed my apartment.”

Stephanie stopped, smirking as she saw she had by several feet. “Whoops.” She pulled his chair backwards, till they were in front of his door. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door, opening it all the way then pushing Jason in, whose eyes widened.

Stephanie grinned, “Did you seriously think we would just let you come back to your apartment without fixing it up?”

Jason huffed, smiling, and looking around, seeming a bit humbled.

All of the furniture had been replaced, even the ones that hadn’t been trashed. But most of his stuff had all been used and breaking or old in one way or another anyway. Everything was new. Stephanie had helped pick out it all, knowing exactly what Jason would want. The couch was the best part; it was large, with the comfiest cushions and perfect for falling asleep on. The wall by the window had been fixed and every wall had fresh paint. There was also new lighting, lamps and kitchen appliances. It was a complete renovation, one that left Jason Todd speechless. What a sight.

Just after Stephanie had closed the door, Jason’s bedroom door opened and Bruce came out, quickly shutting the door behind him.

Stephanie smirked, remembering what else was happening today while Jason’s brows rose high, “Um, okay, that was a bit creepy. Um, isn’t the point of me leaving the manor that you wouldn’t be watching me all the time?"

Bruce huffed a laugh, smiling and staying by the door, “Yes, I know Jason. But the renewed apartment isn’t the only thing you’re getting today. And I wanted to wait for this point because we won't be around you all the time. This is something I’ve had in progress since you first came back, one because it does take that long and two, in case you needed a companion even if you had recovered from your illness. And, I think this is something that you may even want, or have wanted for a long time.”

Jason gave Stephanie, who was still grinning, a confused look then watched as Bruce grinned and opened Jason’s bedroom door. A moment later a medium sized red brown, fluffy and curly furred dog with a long tail and floppy ears ran out of the room and right up to Jason.

Jason’s eyes widened once more as the dog sat beside Jason’s chair, wagging its tail quickly.

“What…” Jason asked surprised, but definitely excited, reaching his right hand towards the dog who then stood and sniffed his hand.

Bruce walked over to them and smiled a little a Stephanie, probably for keeping his secret for the past two weeks he stopped beside Jason and Jason looked up at him, the dog’s head still in his hand.

Bruce smiled and spoke kindly, “This is Sparx, a therapy dog. Found on the streets and taken in by a shelter who train their dogs to be service dogs after they recover from their own traumas. Alfred told you I’ve been thinking of how to help you since you came home, and this was my first idea. He’s been in training for over a year, specifically to help someone with PTSD. And I had them name him Sparx. As I remembered you said your dog as a kid was named Sparky, who supported you when your parents were fighting. And for the past month, he’s been training on how to also help someone confined to a wheelchair. Sparx is for you Jason, to help you, keep you company, and be there for you when we can’t.”

Jason looked speechless and Stephanie couldn’t help but grinning as she crouched down to say hello to the puppy, who greeted her happily.

“I-” Jason started, then shook his head a little and smiled up at Bruce. “Thank you Bruce, for- for everything you’ve done for me this past month and a half. For understanding.”

Bruce smiled warmly and bent down, putting a hand on Jason’s right shoulder. “You’re my son Jason. I only want for you to be happy and healthy. I do understand what you’re going through, so, I will do everything I can to help you.”

Jason just smiled in response. Bruce stood up then, nodding.

“All of his things are in a box in the kitchen: food, toys, list of things he can do and what he’ll do for specific things you do. He also does respond to Sparky.”

Jason smirked a little at that then looked back down at the dog as he gently put his head on Jason’s lap looking up at Jason with just his eyes.

“Alright, now that you’re in good hands and paws, I’ll leave you be. I will call every day or so, just, so you’re aware,” Bruce said, kissing the top of Jason’s head then Stephanie’s after she stood back up. Both of them looked at Bruce weirdly, because _that was weird_ , as he walked to the door.

“See you two soon, call if you need anything.” Bruce ordered, looking at them like he meant it. They both nodded and just smiled a little. Bruce smiled back then left.

Jason took a breath, “Well, alright then.”

Stephanie laughed a little and walked to the kitchen, finding the box on the floor. She looked over and saw Jason petting Sparx, smiling genuinely. Stephanie grinned, happy that he finally got the dog, because she’s had to keep something she knew Jason would love to herself for two weeks. Jason loves dogs, and now he has one meant to help him, and named after the one that made his early childhood bearable.

“Alright,” she called out, grabbing Jason’s and Sparx’s attention. “Let’s get started.” She grinned as she pulled out the how to care for Sparx and how Sparx cares instructions.

Several hours later Jason, Stephanie and Sparx were on the couch after a long while of seeing the basics of what the 2 year old pup could do. Now, they were about to watch a movie to celebrate their moving in and the newest member of the family. Sparx was curled up on Jason’s right side, his head resting on the part between Jason’s hips and top of the cast with Jason's free arm draped over him. Stephanie was on the other side of the pup with a big blanket draped over them, Sparx included.

“What are we watching Blondie?” Jason asked, leaning further into the couch and getting comfortable.

“Deadpool 2 of course. Sparx must be aware of our favorite movies,” Stephanie answered reasonably, turning on the tv.

Jason smirked tiredly, “Agreed.”

Stephanie had a feeling Jason would probably fall asleep during the movie, but the couch was comfy enough. The section he was on was extended for legs, so he was almost laying down anyway. Stephanie’s feet were on a matching ottoman that wasn’t connected to the couch.

They settled into the movie then, Sparx pretty much remaining asleep. And by the end of the movie, they were both pretty much asleep, Sparx still between them, and Sparky the stuffed dog, sitting on the coffee table, as their reminder that there will always be the two of them, through thick or thin, laugh or scream, happy or sad, they will have each other, for whatever comes next.

Because of course, it’s them, there will always be another thing that comes. But for right now, it’s just them, asleep on an insanely comfortable couch, Jason recovering and Stephanie helping him with everything she can. Cause, what else were friends, and family, for? And it's awesome, when they're one and the same, because it just makes home so much bigger. And right now, they were home.

 

**His name is Sparky, Sparky the dog,**

**He sometimes likes to run away, when he’s afraid,**

**And we always search for him**

**But he always comes back to us,**

**And we’re always there to welcome him home.**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this little short fic! If you enjoy this AU then subscribe to the series, because I'm not done with it yet! There is more Jason and Stephanie, and Sparx, to come! I do have another story I'm committed to writing, as I've been writing it for like 10 months now! (wow, I can't believe it's been that long :]) So, I'll probably try to alternate between writing a chapter for that then doing something for this AU, or something along those lines. 
> 
> This was so much fun to write, though yes painful, sorry Jason (love you!) but still nice. And again, I'm not done with them so, be patient with me for a new story will come soon! (I am a college student so, lots of unexpected time restraints every now and then :p )  
> If you want to see anything in this AU for Steph and Jason or anything else, I'm totally open to ideas so please jot 'em down in the comments! Just think of it like prompts or something :D
> 
> Thank you guys!  
> <<33


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